Sheriff Unveils Reorganization of Department

Ventura County Sheriff Larry Carpenter unveiled the long-awaited shake-up of his department’s divisions and top brass Thursday, in a reorganization designed to avoid cuts in public safety services.

The changes will save the county $500,000 this year and are projected to save $558,000 annually in 1994 and beyond, Carpenter said.

“We’re looking forward to the future,” Carpenter said. “I think there’s some things we can do, there’s some other efficiencies we can identify . . . and I think we’ve put together a team to carry us on down the road a few years.”

The staff juggling included the first promotions of a woman and an Asian-American officer in the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department to the rank of commander. It also marks the first time in 20 years that a Latino officer has served as a chief deputy, Carpenter said.

Under the reorganization, Carpenter promoted Lt. Kathy Kemp, a 14-year veteran, and East Valley Division investigative Lt. Dante Honorico, a Filipino native with 16 years on the force, to the rank of commander.

Lt. Joe Harwell, a 24-year veteran of the department who serves as chief of police for the city of Ojai, also was named commander.

Carpenter said he will decide where to reassign the new commanders in coming weeks.

In restructuring the department, Carpenter merged the department’s five divisions into four, folding the Special Services Division into the West County Police Services Division. Special services include the crime lab, helicopter unit and special investigations.

Carpenter said he also named four people to chief deputy positions to run the department’s four divisions, and these promotions along with the reorganization effectively eliminated eight management positions.

Under the new lineup, Cmdr. Richard Rodriguez, head of the sheriff’s support services division, was promoted to chief deputy in charge of that division, the sheriff’s records bureau, training academy and business office.

Rodriguez, a 26-year department veteran, is the first Latino named a chief deputy in two decades. At that time, then-Chief Deputy Raul Ramos left the department for the FBI Academy and later went on to become undersheriff in the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, Carpenter said.

Carpenter also named Assistant Sheriff Oscar Fuller, formerly head of patrol services, as a chief deputy to oversee the reorganized West County Police Services Division.

Fuller, a 28-year veteran, will oversee protection of the western portion of the county, including the contract cities of Camarillo, Fillmore and Ojai, and will take on the duties of the former Special Services Division.

Cmdr. Donald Lanquist, previously in charge of construction of the Todd Road Jail, was promoted to chief deputy of the reorganized Detention Services Division, which will oversee the jails, honor farm and other custody functions. His division also will oversee the bailiffs in the county court system.

Lanquist served in the county marshal’s office from 1968 to 1980, when the office was merged with the Sheriff’s Department.

Finally, Cmdr. Robert Brooks, formerly of the Custody Division, will be promoted to chief deputy of the East County Police Services Division, which covers eastern Ventura County and the contract cities of Thousand Oaks and Moorpark.

Brooks will be replacing East Valley Sheriff’s Cmdr. William Wade, who will move to work in the detention division briefly before being given a new assignment, which Wade and Carpenter declined to reveal.

“I’m pleased with the reassignment” to the undisclosed job, Wade said Thursday. “It certainly is different from what I’ve been doing, and it’s time for a change. I’ve been here for 5 1/2 years, and it’s time to be moving on.”

All those promoted have been happy with the changes, Carpenter said.

“There’s new ground with Kemp, and we’re very pleased that an extremely qualified female could be promoted to commander.”

Earlier this year, Carpenter told the Board of Supervisors he could absorb some budget cuts by streamlining the department’s top management.